IASA Report: Social Media Receives the Most Buzz

Mobile technology was decidedly the number one topic of conversation at the ACORD LOMA conference last month with social media a close second. Much like the Triple Crown horse races, it's hard to sweep the field and at last week's IASA conference social media was a clear winner in the area of buzz.

With Erik Qualman's closing keynote and several breakout sessions, including one led by Nationwide's Cathy Ellwood, anyone who attended and didn't change their Facebook status or post something to their Twitter account wasn't paying attention.

The IT Town Hall session that closed the conference could have gone 90 minutes on the subject had moderator Rod Travers allowed it. The town hall panelists kept the discussion lively for 15 minutes as the attendees tried to get a handle on their own feelings on social media as well as the value they see in it.

Gartner's Kimberly Harris-Ferrante may have gotten some grief for saying the issue of social media is over-hyped in insurance, but she makes a good point. Some carriers and agents are using social media, but it is hard to see just exactly what they've accomplished thus far.

There are many who believe it's not what you gain from social media it's what you stand to lose if you fail to take part. Whichever of these viewpoints proves to be true remains to be seen.

Like many people I sometimes struggle to see the value of social media in business, but I can't afford to ignore the possibilities of what this connection can do for my readers and the PropertyCasualty360.com Website. So I'm going to keep blogging away and finding interesting things to Tweet about.

Insurers are in the same boat. One insurer I heard speak explained she saw no value at all for her company at this point in time. With so many other important things to do at work it may seem to some people like a colossal waste of time to be tweeting and blogging about your company or your products.

Of course, many insurance people were saying the same thing about their company Web sites not too many years ago. I'd recommend erring on the side of caution, so update that Facebook profile and develop a strategy to better communicate with your business partners and your customers.